Adhir Chowdhury urges Bengal CM to set up appellate tribunals in every block of Murshidabad

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has urged West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to establish appellate tribunals in Murshidabad district to help voters whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls.

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday urged West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to set up appellate tribunals in every block of Murshidabad district to help people whose names were deleted from the voters' list during the recently concluded Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

In a letter to Adhikari, Chowdhury claimed that Murshidabad district recorded the highest number of names deleted from the voters' list in the state, with ''more than five lakhs'' voters affected.

He said people from economically weaker sections, daily wage earners, elderly citizens and physically infirm persons would face severe hardship in travelling long distances to approach appellate tribunals for restoration or clearance of their names.

''Murshidabad, being one of the backward and economically weaker districts of the state, the people belonging to economically vulnerable sections, daily wage earners, elderly citizens, physically infirm persons, and socially marginalised communities will face immense hardship in travelling long distances to appear before the tribunal, Chowdhury wrote.

The tribunals were constituted on March 20, following Supreme Court directions to establish an appellate mechanism for grievances arising out of the revision process.

The former Union minister further urged the chief minister to consider setting up appellate tribunals in every block of the district to ensure easier access to justice and administrative support.

''Such an initiative would provide great relief to the deprived and affected citizens and ensure easier access to justice and administrative support for them,'' he said in the letter.

Chowdhury also sought the chief minister's ''immediate consideration and intervention'' in the matter.